2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Development and Application of Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis Methods for Fossils of Mammals from the Eocene Epoch, Approximately 35 Million Years Ago
| Project/Area Number |
20K20950
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
Medium-sized Section 17:Earth and planetary science and related fields
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| Research Institution | Okayama University of Science |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
辻極 秀次 岡山理科大学, 理学部, 教授 (70335628)
千葉 謙太郎 岡山理科大学, 生物地球学部, 講師 (80826438)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2020-07-30 – 2023-03-31
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| Keywords | 哺乳類化石 / 古第三紀 / ゴビ砂漠 / 分子系統解析 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The aim of this study was to procure an ample quantity of protein from considerably older fossil specimens and establish a methodology for achieving this objective. Due to recent travel limitations, we evaluated the efficacy and applicability of various methods on a limited number of fossil specimens, including histological analysis utilizing specialized stains, protein extraction, and molecular phylogenetic analysis. Our findings affirmed the efficacy of all methods for mammalian fossils from the Quaternary period in Okayama while failing to confirm adequate protein preservation in Paleogene Mongolian mammalian fossils. This discrepancy suggests a relationship between protein degradation, elution, and chemical modification of amino acids. However, through further implementation of select methods, we succeeded in extracting proteins from fossil specimens and are actively pursuing the development of more precise techniques.
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| Free Research Field |
層位古生物
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
これまで、骨化石より抽出される有機物に対して、保存期間の問題や抽出方法、抽出物に対する各種化学的な論証など、その存在証明が難しいとされてきた。本研究は、それらの化学的論証に至る方法論に、画期的な成果を提供する可能性があり、今後研究対象を拡大することで、さらなる有機物抽出へつながる可能性がある。さらに多様な化石に対して分子系統解析手法を拡大することは、化石になった過去の生物を、生物学的に捉えることにつながり、生物多様性変遷など、この世界の成り立ちを理解する一助になるだろう。
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